I've been running a small Drupal shop for several years now and have experimented with lots of tools and technologies to manage my workflow, contractors, and the financial aspects of my business. It's easy to waste a lot of time chasing the latest and greatest tools.
I'd like to share the tool set I'm currently using, things I've tried, and gaps that I still need to fill. Most of all, I'd love to hear what tools that others have used and why they choose them.
Here are the categories I plan to discuss:
Watch the session video here.
Are you a stakeholder? Do you work for an agency as a designer, engineer, or product manager? Are you a citizen wondering how your government’s website can serve you better?
Stanford University offers a wide array of opportunities for its students to study abroad. Historically, these opportunities were administered by various departments from all corners of the university. In 2015, Stanford’s Office of International Affairs started work on Stanford Off-Campus Learning Opportunities (SOLO), an initiative to bring all of these opportunities under one roof.
Have you outgrown trying to manage all your projects using email or Trello, but tools like Jira and Project are complete overkill?
As an experienced project manager, I subscribe to the belief from the Agile Software Development Manifesto to value "Individuals and interactions over processes and tools". You don't want to spend more time managing the process than actually doing the work. But at the same time, how do you keep your projects within scope, budget and timeline?
Watch the session video here.
Acronyms are everywhere, and if you work in or with a digital agency, you’re likely bombarded by them day in and day out. Emails sent from strategists asking about your KPIs for the year, letters appended to your project manager’s name, requests from marketing for your CRM details...the acronym soup goes on and on. The goal of this session is to equip attendees with knowledge of basic terms used in the industry and the correct ways to use them!
I have found that most project management resources and education are geared towards large companies. Small agencies have their own specific challenges, and this is especially true for project managers.
As the lead PM for two small agencies (< 3 developers per team), I've learned a lot about how to scale down processes and streamline meetings for smaller teams. In this session, I'd like to share what I've learned.
The first principle behind the Agile Manifesto is “to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.”
In an agency setting, our clients are one of the primary customers that we look to satisfy with our work. By bringing clients into the agile process, we can increase engagement and satisfaction - leading to more successful projects for all users, team members, and stakeholders.
In this session, you’ll learn:
Ying and yang, night and day. One completes the other one. Tom has no fun without Jerry. After years working solo, we have found our better halves.
When a client relationship starts, both the Account Manager and the Project Manager are in search of success and profitability - the perfect golden cheese. One manages the work flow, while the other one keeps transparency and manages communications between agency and client.
Find out how this dynamic duo oversees client, team, project and budget health.
Some topics we’ll cover:
As important as estimation is to setting customer/stakeholder expectations and ultimately to paying the bills, there is surprisingly little discussion about what makes for a sound estimation strategy.